Last Man Standing
by lonewarrior101
Summary: Another normal day, a guy who never cared about anything or anyone finds himself having a new view on life in the midst of the epedemic. Final Chapter up please review!
1. Introduction

_Ok this is my second Dawn of the Dead Fanfic, set in the USA and based on the 2004 version of Dawn of the Dead , I hope everyone enjoys It and ill try and post once a week. There will be references to my other fanfic for those who have read it, please point them out if you spot them._

'_Probably the only true escape is death, but even that is that undiscovered country from whose bond, you know, no traveler returns'_

Jimmy stopped at the traffic signals, looking around at the other cars he sighed. It had been a long day at the office and things weren't going so well. The new guy had been fired and they were understaffed as it was with all those who were off sick. He tapped on the wheel. When the lights changed he turned off towards the bridge, where he could see the flashing lights of a police car heading towards him. He turned his car to park at the side of the road, to let the police car pass when he heard a thump. A man in his twenties bounced off the side of the car and landed face down on the road.

"Hold shit," Jimmy said in shock as he slammed on the brakes way too late," he had just hit someone," are you ok?"

Jimmy got out of the car and ran to the man's side, but it didn't look good. There were slashes in his shirt and a bloody mess hanging from his neck. Jimmy's first thought was that the man had broken his neck in the fall, but the wound looked old. He knelt by the man as he shook, he had just killed a man. He nervously went to check the man's pulse, but as soon as he touched him the man sprung up and started looking around wildly.

"Thank god your alright," Jimmy breathed," I though-,"

The man screamed, his eyes full of hatred. He lunged at Jimmy, who hit the front of his car and fell over it as he jumped back. The other man slammed into it and slid over the front after him. Jimmy sprang for the passenger door and smashed it into his face as he reached for Jimmy, but he made it into his car and locked the door as the man started pounding his fists on the side.

"I'm sorry I hit you," Jimmy breathed," just calm down,"

The window shattered and the man reached in, Jimmy put his foot down and sped away, but as he did a car suddenly swerved in front of him, it hit the side of his car and for a second it lost control. The other car slammed into a parked truck down the road, but luckily Jimmy managed to bring his own car back onto his side of the road. He took a moment to think about what had happened, the guy had clearly been crazy. But his trail of thought disappeared as he saw a group of five people on the street attacking someone on the floor. He stopped the car a good twenty metres away and watched as they grabbed him. At first he thought they were stabbing him, but no one seemed to be helping the man. Finally he lay still and Jimmy knew he was dead.

"Hey!" Jimmy called, opening the car door," I'm calling the cops,"

One of them looked up , a women in her sixties, in her hands was what looked like part of someone's intestine. She let out a cry and started running towards Jimmy, he stood there in shock when suddenly a truck went speeding past, hitting the women head on. Her body exploded and the truck hit a police car that appeared from no where, the police car spun and smashed into a garbage container on the edge of an alleyway which started to emit smoke fast.

Jimmy looked down at the remains of the woman; she was spattered over the road in various pieces. He held onto the car door as he felt an acidic taste in his throat, vomit spewed from his mouth over the road and he fell to his knees as more sick shot from him.

He staggered back into his car and put his foot down again, turning towards the main road towards the bridge, if there was one place to go, it was the police station on the other side a few miles away.

He drove fast, avoiding people where he could. All over the streets were people being attacked by groups of other people. There was one or two people here and there with guns, shooting at passers by or trying to steal a car as they sped away in all directions. There were only a few cars with people driving, most of the people outside were looting or fighting. He couldn't believe he hadn't heard anything about any rioting going on, and it had come on so suddenly it was strange.

He suddenly realised he needed to know what was going on and thought about the radio.

"…… scattered reports are coming in from local law enforcement that the rioting has spread rapidly through Los Angeles, so far no cause of this sudden outbreak of violence has been confirmed. The violence is said to have started at a baseball game this morning and has spread from there, all the way across the city. Riot police have been deployed and the National Guard are on standby. If the rioting has reached your area, police are advising to head to the nearest prescient until the situation is brought under control.

We also have a report that a vicious gang consisting of around one hundred members has assaulted a hospital near Los Angeles International Airport. Although information is sketchy at best, police believe that the gang infiltrated the hospital then started violently attacking patients. No other information is available on this story…..,"

Jimmy turned down the radio and stopped at another set of traffic signals, there was no one else around so he took a moment to collect himself. Things were crazy, and all he could think about was himself.

He fumbled with his jacket and found his cell phone and started dialling his ex wife's number, the only person in LA that he knew. He had moved from New York six years ago for work with his wife, but they separated a year ago and hadn't spoken since.

The phone made a strange bleeping noise and he looked at the screen, it read 'No network'.

"Great," he said," just fucking great,"

A gunshot made him jump and he looked up frantically as a figure appeared in the street, carrying a handgun. Behind the man were three people, two women and a young boy, all covered in blood. Jimmy tried to move off in panic as the man aimed the gun at his car, the car stalled and Jimmy tried to turn to keys.

"Get out!" the man shouted, turning and letting off a shot.

It hit a women in the kneecap and she let out a gurgling scream as she fell onto the ground, squirming as she tried to stand back up. Jimmy started the car and sped off, leaving the man to his fate. In his rear view mirror he could see the man bundled by the two people who were left standing.

Jimmy kept his foot down and the bridge came into view and his stomach tied in a know as he saw hundreds of cars smashed into one huge pile, flames and smoke billowing across the river. He swerved around two people who were fighting and hit a fat man who rolled away underneath a fire truck that was crushed between two cars.

From the side, from behind the fire truck another car appeared and hit the side of his car, knocking it towards the edge of the bridge.

Dazed, Jimmy looked up just in time as five or six people started scratching at the from window. He scrambled to the passenger side and out the broken window. Behind him were the crazy people and in front, a two hundred foot drop into running water.

He jumped.


	2. Leap of Faith

_I apologise for any spelling mistakes, my spell checker isnt working at the moment. Ill post some more next week sometime, enjoy….._

'_Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith.'_

Jimmy felt the ground beneith him and spat soft wet mud from his mouth as he pushed himself up. The back of his head began to ache and he felt back there for injury, his hand returned with dried blood on his fingers and he turned himself over and lay on his back. Looking at the sky, he wondered what had happened, he remembered driving, then driving faster until he…..he must have crashed, but for some reason he also remembered jumping from the bridge. A riot, that was it, and some people had been after him.

He sat up completely and looked at his surroundings, the bridge was at least a mile away now, he must have landed in the water and drifted downstream, hitting his head at some point and knocking himself out cold. The place he had been laying was what looked like a sewage outlet that hadnt been used in years, although there was still large amounts of wet garbabe which he then realised was what he had been laying in all along. Jimmy pushed himself to his feet and staggered to the water's edge to wash himself off, looking at his reflection. He was covered in mud, grime and other things he didn't want to think about. Anyone who saw him would think he was some kind of monster with all the gunk on him.

Jimmy reached into his pocket and found his cell phone, which had blue coloured stains on the screen from getting wet. It was useless now, he tried turning it on but nothing happened so he dropped it and checked his watch. It was 7am in the morning now, he had been out cold for at least the night, the watch didn't display the date so he couldn't tell what day it was.

"I need a hospital," he said to himself as he tried to climb the bank.

He grasped onto the branch of a tree as he tried to find a good foothold, but it was just too steep. Jimmy scanned the water for any passing boats, but the nearest was a small sailing craft two hundred metres away. The strength he needed to get there was something he didn't possess, the head wound was now starting to sting now that he was using up what energy he had left.

Trying again, Jimmy pulled himself up the bank and grasped the top with both hands. He looked over the top to see a small boat yard ahead, which was messy with crates laying scattered across the ground in disorganised heaps. He carefully hosted himelf up and started to slowly walk towards it, checking around for people although the rioting must be over by now, the cops ould have everything under control. He reached what appeared to be a security office at the main gate, but no one was inside the small hut and the gates were mangaled and broken. He checked his head again, but the blood was still dry so he didn't have to worry about blood loss.

Inside Jimmy found scattered papers and a phon off the hook, when he checked the line there was no tone. He tried a few times dialing but it wasn't working. Then he thought about his own business, they would be losing a lot of funds due to the riot, it would cost them hundreds of dollars just to get back on track, thousands depending on how much damage the rioters had done to the company office.

"God damm it," he said, sitting on the chair with his head in his hands," I'm gonna lose the business,"

Time passed as he sat thinking about how much money they were going to lose, he waited and waited for someone to come. He didn't know how long he had ben sitting there, but a clang brought him to his senses. He looked up, trying to find the source but he saw no one around the small yard. Dismissing it as his imagination, he tried the phone again, but there was still nothing.

A splintering crack made him jump and he looked up just in time to see a dark skinned man slam into the window followed by two other men in the same uniform of the boat yard, Jimmy fell off the chair and pressed himself againt the other side of the secuity box, glancing at the door, which was still open. The men pounded against the window hard and the glass started to crack and that same crazied look the rioters had appeared on their faces, Jimmy noticed one man had his intestines hanging out and had left a trail a good five metres behind him. He paniced and ran for the door and he sprinted out the gate and onto a small dirt road. Another person appeared from the side, where Jimmy caught a fleeting glance at a totalled car in the ditch. The four people joined as one group and Jimmy kept running up the road, towards what looked like a pile of burning cars as they chased him.

Whatever these people wanted, he didn't care, he just needed to get away. As he reached the accident, he noticed a pickup sticking out of the wreckage. He ducked behind it and crawled under it, well out of view of his pursuers. The four people stopped next to the pickup, their feet inches away from him. He held his breath, trying not to alert them when he felt something touch his hand. Nearly jumping out of his skin he grasped a stone and had an idea, he waited until the feet faced the other way and then threw the pebble as hard as he could. It clanged on a car door down the road and the four people sped off in that direction. Jimmy didn't wait to find out if they were going to be coming back, he ran in the direction of the buildings just up the road.

Jimmy reached the road to find it empty of people, he checked cars here and there but none seemed like they would work. Halfway down the road he found a truck smashed into a wall, by the back was a box of cold drinks. Suddenly realising how thirsty he was, he grabbed a can of soda and downed it in one long gulp. Wiping his mouth, he sat on the edge of the box wondering what was going on. Everyone seemed to be going crazy, and that guy with his intesines hanging out. Something was wrong with these people, if that person barely knew his guts were hanging out it was pointless fighting the guy. If only he could get home, he could get to his gun, then they wouldn't mess with him.

"There was no way they were after my money," he thought," so what were they after if not trying to mug me?"

He took a bag from the truck and put some soda cans in it, it was a long walk to the hospital and he didn't think anyone would care. Everyone else was looting so why should't he do it.

He walked back onto the road and looked both ways, towards the bridge he would see movement in the distance. People were moving his way, but they couldn't have seen him this far. He was standing still and could barely see them. At closer inspection, he saw what looked like a gang of thirty people running down the street. They had seen him for sure now.

He turned to hide in the alleyway when he saw that the gas tank on the truck was leaking, he flicked out his lighter and turned to face to crowd that was almost on him.

"I don't know what you want," he shouted," but if you come any closer I'll blow you all to shit!"

They didn't listen, instead they snarled and reached for him as they closed in. He dropped the lighter and dove behind another car as the gas ignited. There was an ear shattering explosion and Jimmy felt himself leave the ground as the force knocked him flying, he hit the ground hard and rolled into some garbage.

His ears rang as he stood up, all the bodies were down…..except they were standing back up. One of them came runing towards him on fire and he grasped a piece of lumber from the trash container.

"What's wrong with you people?!" He said, as the lone crazy reached him.

He swung the lumber, taking out his legs and sending him into the wall with a thump. The man on fire turned and came again, Jimmy smashed him in the face and he staggered back and fell down, but still he got back up.

Jimmy turned to run when someone grabbed him, he punched as he dropped the piece of wood and a skinny women with part of her face hanging off tried tobite him. He shoved the bag of soda in her face and she let go as another man grabbed hold of him.

There was a dull splat and the man shuddered, letting go as a hole appeared in his chest. Jimmy ducked under some outstreched arms as he heard a bang and one of the people reaching for him fell down with a bullet hole to the chest. Frantically he looked around for the shooter, but couldn't see anyone. But as soon as one of the people made it past the fire, a bullet struck them and they fell. But Jimmy just stared as the man he had seen shot through the heart got up as thought nothing had hit him.

"Holy Shit!" he screamed and started running again, but his chest was feeling tight and he didn't know how long he could keep it up.

He half jogged, half limped as he heard another shot. But this one was different, he saw a flash from a window of a building down the road, outside he could see a group of people fighting.

He didn't stop now, someone was covering him so he had to make it. He blocked out the pain, running as fast as he could. Knowing that somewhere behind him were those crazies. As he came into view of the people, he heard more gunshots from inside.

"Over here!" he heard a voice from his side.

"Move it buddy," another said and Jimmy looked up to see the barrel of a high powered rifle poking out of the second story window.

Jimmy headed towards the first voice, towards a back alley to the building and as he ran round the corner he found himself face to face with a masked man. The man pushed Jimmy inside and started unloading an autmatic weapon, an MP5 into two people, a man and a women that were chasing Jimmy. They fell, but scrambelled back to their feet.

"Move it or lose it!" the man said.

Jimmy was dragged inside by someone else and the masked guy, who looked like S.W.A.T closed the fire door and leant against the wall, the plaque on the door read: Sewage Disposal Plant Emergency Exit.

"What the hell is going on?" Jimmy breathed as the Swat guy tore off his mask and reloaded his MP5.


	3. Death from within

_Ok heres part three, more next week………………_

'_Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive'_

"Sit down, Sir," the swat guy said, half pushing him into a seat.

They were in an emergency stairwell, used as a fire escape. Rust and dirt covered the walls. There was another man next to Jimmy, sitting on another seat dressed in an Italian suit with blood stains on the arms.

"Are you injured?" the swat guy said, checking Jimmy's head.

"I'm ok," Jimmy replied," I fell and hit my head,"

"I'm gonna send you to the others," the swat guy said," I've been ordered to keep all the wounded together until help arrives,"

How are you doing over there, Eric? The radio on the swat guy sprang into life.

"Holding out," the swat guy said into his radio," barely, when's backup getting here, we are running out of bullets and have at least five civilians who are injured,"

"Come on," the guy in the suit said," I'll lead you to the others,"

There was a bang from down the corridor, from where a door stood open leading into what looked like the front lobby. The swat guy moved fast, aiming his gun through the door and waiting. Jimmy held back against the wall as the familiar cries of the crazies echoed through the building. There were two gunshots from the lobby and another swat guy came running carrying a shotgun, he spun around as the guy with the MP5 closed the door and they pushed their weight against it.

"Go!" Eric said," get upstairs now!"

The wooden door splintered and a hand broke through, grabbing the guy with the shotgun. He fired, blowing it off at the wrist but the door was already gone, hands reached through and the other guy opened fire at them with his MP5.

"Come on!" the man in the suit said, grabbing Jimmy's shoulder and dragging him up the stairs.

Jimmy could hear the gunfire below as they climbed, the man in the suit always a flight above as they ran up the building's emergency stairwell. As he reached the first floor, there was a scream from below and Jimmy looked over the edge as the gunfire stopped. They were climbing the stairs in a massive crowd, hundreds of them pressed in against the walls as they followed him up. Gunshots started again, this time from a different weapon. Eric appeared shooting over his shoulder at their legs with a handgun. The shotgun held by the top in his other hand, his MP5 probably lost in the mayhem.

"Keep going!" he said.

Jimmy began his climb again and he dragged himself up to the second floor. Hands grabbed him as he passed an open door and he struggled as he was pulled to the floor. The door slammed shut and the hands let go, the guy in the suit fell back against the wall and a fire-fighter carrying a fire axe started helping the swat guy push a table in the way of the door.

"We lost Davis," Eric, the swat guy said looking down at the shotgun he must have taken from him.

"Is someone gonna tell me what's going on?" Jimmy asked as he was helped to a seat.

"You want to know?" a women in her twenties asked him," take a look at this,"

She turned the TV on the desk around and Jimmy, followed by some other people who sat by and watched.

",……. you describe the nature of this violence?" a reporter asked a National Guard soldier.

"So far all we know is that people are going insane, killing each other or attacking anyone they see. We have fallen back inside the base are no longer accepting civilian casualties, the risk of letting any of the rioters in is too great."

"What advice would you give anyone finding themselves assaulted by these people?" the reported asked.

"Run," he said simply," I have seen my men fill them with bullets only to stand again while others fall after a few rounds, whatever these people are, they are hard to kill, lock your doors and windows, stay at home until we can get to you,"

"Well there you have it," the reporter said, facing the camera," violence has spread rapidly through America and so far no apparent explanation is available. Reports from Centre of Disease Control state that it may be some kind of virus causing mass insanity though so far no subjects have been detained for examination. Military advice is to stay put and defend yourselves however you can, these people seem impervious to pain. I would not believe it myself, but I have seen what these people are capable of." 

"That doesn't tell us anything we don't already know," a guy in swat uniform said, kneeling by the window with a sniper rifle.

"Hey man," Jimmy said," urrmm……thanks for covering me,"

"No problem," the swat guy replied.

Jimmy sat looked around the room, which was some kind of office. By the window was one swat guy and the other was sitting down by the door checking his ammunition. Two women sat talking in the corner, one with a deep gash on her arm that was bleeding. The man in the suit was sitting alone, drinking coffee and the fire-fighter was making sure the barricade at the door was going to hold.

There were voices from the back office, Jimmy could see people moving back there and assumed that's where the other people were.

"Do you copy?" the swat guy by the door said, talking into his radio," hello?"

"Your battery gone?" the one by the window asked, checking his own radio," shit mines out too,"

"Eric…..," said the radio, " they…got…in…cant stop….them," 

Three gunshots rang out over the radio and it went dead. The swat guys looked at each other, but everyone else was looking at the one by the door, who looked like he was in charge.

"Ok, Listen up people," he said as people from the back room poked their heads around the corner after hearing the radio gunfire," My name's Eric and this is Colin, we have lost contact with HQ. We need to secure at better location, that barricade wont hold the crazy people long. We're taking you to the control room, it will have monitors to oversee the entire place, stay together and keep quiet. If they find us I'll hold them and Colin will lead you on,"

Eric stood up and cocked the shotgun, Colin put his rifle over his shoulder and drew his Glock 17. Colin went to the other door that led out in the corridor and people started coming from the back room. There were twelve in all, and the last of them to leave were two men carrying a women who was out cold. On her neck was a deep wound that looked like it had been caused by a vicious dog. One of the men gave Jimmy a cold look as he passed and the guy in the suit came up to Jimmy.

"My name's Mike," he said as they started slowly moving towards the door.

"Jimmy," he replied.

"So," Mike said," you…ermm..lose anyone?"

"No," Jimmy said," you?"

"Shhh," Mike said, " we better be quiet now,"

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Up front, Colin checked every passage quickly, but no one seemed to be around. The group moved as silently as they could, Eric bringing up the rear with the fire-fighter whose eyes were wide with fear as he clutched the axe that was stained with dry blood.

Outside, the screams of people who hadn't made it safely inside could be heard whenever they went by a window. Now and again they heard a gunshot or a car brakes screech, but nothing close enough to be of any help.

In front of Jimmy and Mike, the injured women being carried shuddered and the men stopped.

"Leah," one of the men said," oh no, please no,"

"Quiet!" Eric said from nearby," what's going on?"

"Her heart's stopped," one of the men said," she's dead,"

The two men stopped and lay her down, while everyone else in front slowly turned to see what was going on.

The women who had turned on the TV came running over saying she knew CPR, which she started immediately.

"Ok stand back people," the fire-fighter said," give her some room to work,"

"Come on," the women trying to resuscitate said.

The injured women opened her eyes and the man who was now in tears grabbed her and started hugging her.

"Nice job," Eric said.

"But….," the women who gave CPR started," theres no puls-,"

The man hugging her screamed as his neck was torn away, he rolled as he tried to get away but she clung on, eating at his throat. Eric rose his gun, unsure who to shoot when the second guy who had been helping her grabbed the shotgun and tried to pull it away from them.

Jimmy backed away as the women let go of the man she was eating and he too got up and went for Mike. Jimmy turned and ran, ignoring the others as they stood in shock. There was a gunshot and the man trying to get the gun from Eric fell down, blood pouring from a shotgun wound to his stomach. Both the man and women, sensing the blood leapt on him.

Colin appeared in front of Jimmy, blocking his way.

"Everyone down now!" he shouted and Jimmy dove to the ground, looking over his shoulder as the man and women stood up, now joined by the third man. Eric, Mike and the fire-fighter couldn't get past the three people and were stuck the other side of them down the passage. Colin fired at the women as she ran towards the now scattering group. She staggered back, but kept coming as he fired two more shots. She ignored them and chased someone into a room as they broke off from the group.

"We're moving come on!" Colin said.

Jimmy didn't care about the others, he was off. He ran straight down the corridor, footsteps close behind him and gunshots in the background. He couldn't tell who was following him and wasn't going to stop and find out. He turned a corner and stopped dead as two people came running towards him, he ran to a side door and closed it behind him, listening to the screams as someone pounded on the door for him to open and let them in. Soon the screams stopped, whoever was with him was dead. He fell down, leaning against the door and waited listening to the gunfire die away and the running footsteps past the door. The room he was in was a storeroom with a double door at the other side, on the wall next to him was a map of the building.

He checked the floor, but the control room he had heard about wasn't on this floor. Looking at the next floor up, he saw a clear notice reading control and security room with an elevator sign right next to it. Walking over to the double doors, he realised it was an employee elevator. He pressed the button to go up a floor and went inside, as he did he stepped in something. Blood covered his shoes and he wondered if any of the others had made it away, but since the gunfire had stopped he was worried.

He stepped out of the elevator, heading towards the door ahead labelled control room when something struck the back of skull, knocking him to the ground. He turned and tripped the person who fell back against the wall and dropped the iron pipe that they had hit him with, he grasped it in both hands and stood up, ready to fight.

_More coming in a few days………_


	4. Knowing the Enemy

_Sorry for the wait, heres another chapter…_

'_We have met the enemy...and he is us.'_

As Jimmy got up, the person smashed into him, tackling him back to the ground. The pipe fell from his hands and a fist collided with Jimmy's face. Jimmy grabbed his hand and kneed him in the groin, he crawled back and the man backed away too.

Jimmy made for the control room, ripping open the door and closing it tightly behind him. He heard the scrape of the pipe on the floor outside the door as the man picked it back up, Jimmy picked up the chair next to him and jammed it under the handle.

"Let me in," a rough voice said through the door.

"Fuck off," Jimmy said backing away from the door.

He sat down on another chair and looked around, there was only one way out of the room, the way he had come in. Behind him were various screens showing other rooms in the building, here and there people were staggering around, but one place was different.

He looked closer at the screen as Eric, the swat guy held on to a door with Mike and a women, behind them on the black and white screen was a man bleeding all over the floor. Eric was clutching his handgun and aiming it at the door, but Jimmy couldn't see what was outside. He flicked the switch on the TV and the picture went to another room, an empty one. Flicking it again it showed the outside of the room where Eric was, there were at least twenty people jammed in the corridor and banging on the door.

"Open this fucking door," the rough voice said," I'll smash in your fucking brains,"

Jimmy ignored the man and looked at the monitor displaying outside the control room. The man was pacing back and forth, trying to find a way into the room now that the door was jammed.

"Hey what-?" the man's voice said.

Jimmy saw as a man came running from the elevator, dressed in swat uniform. He clashed with the man outside the door and ripped a chuck of his neck away as he bit into his flesh. There was a scream from outside and Jimmy watched as the man threw the swat guy across the room, back towards the elevator. He dropped the pipe and ran towards a side room, closing the door behind him, surprise on his face.

Jimmy moved towards the door, taking the chair out and opening it. As he did, the swat guy turned to face him, it was Colin.

"Shit man," Jimmy said," I thought yo-,"

Colin lunged and Jimmy didn't have time to move aside, Colin snapped at Jimmy and he held his neck to keep him away. They fell to the ground and Jimmy grabbed the pipe, putting it against Colin's neck and holding him back as his hands tore at his jacket.

"What's wrong with you?" Jimmy asked, rolling over and pinning him down.

Jimmy heard a clunk as a handgun slipped from its holster on Colin's belt. He felt around for it, letting go of the pipe he scrambled away, Colin discarding the pipe.

Jimmy cocked the gun and aimed it at Colin.

"Don't move," Jimmy said.

Colin looked at him as he rose to his feet slowly, his eyes glancing at the bang on the head Jimmy had taken. He moved again and Jimmy pulled the trigger out of shock of the sudden movement. The bullet struck Colin's shoulder and he turned slightly, but not slowing.

"Body armour," Jimmy thought, aiming low.

Colin's leg gave way as the second shot blew a hole in his lower leg. Jimmy took the time to stand up and wonder what the hell was going on, Colin tried to crawl across the floor at Jimmy, leaving a trail of blood from his leg as he edged forward. Jimmy's eye then caught the sight of blood dripping from the shoulder shot, it had missed his flak jacket and hit his skin, but he hadn't even noticed.

Colin made a swing at Jimmy's leg and took it in both hands, trying to bite it. Jimmy panicked and let loosed another shot, Colin barely noticed as the bullet blew a hole in his arm.

Jimmy pulled the trigger again, and again after that, a volley of cracks rang out as he shot Colin again and again. The hands fell limp and Jimmy kicked Colin in the face, his head landing with a thump.

Back against the wall, Jimmy kept the gun aimed at him, but he didn't move. Quickly, he ejected the magazine and checked it, there was one bullet left inside, meaning one was in the chamber also.

He knelt by Colin and rolled him over, there were two bullet holes in his skull.

"Holy shit," Jimmy said, falling down and thinking about what he had just done.

He had shot a police officer, he couldn't believe it, but he had gone crazy like all the other people. He sat a while, staring into space, the event going over and over in his mind when suddenly the elevator doors opened again, Jimmy jumped to his feet aiming the gun as two people came stumbling out.

"Don't shoot!" the women cried, setting down a man who was injured, his stomach bleeding heavily. She was in her twenties with long brown hair; the man looked much older, maybe forty to fifty years old.

"What happened?" he asked, lowering the gun.

"Those bastards tried to eat him," the women said, her eyes stopping on the swat guy.

"He was like that when I got here," Jimmy lied.

"Come on," she said," help me get him in there,"

Jimmy put the gun in his pants and shouldered the man into the office, laying him down by the screens, half of which showed people running around. From here, he couldn't tell who was crazy and who wasn't.

"You ok?" Jimmy asked the guy, but he didn't reply," how about you?"

"I'm fine," she said," thanks to him they didn't get near me, did no one else make it?"

"Theres a swat guy in a room with some other people," Jimmy pointed at the screens," but those fuckers are outside their room,"

"Hello?" the women said into a speaker.

Jimmy looked up at the screen as Eric spoke into the intercom.

"Good to know someone else is sane out there," he said," where are you?"

"Control room," the women replied," there are at least twenty of those fucks outside your room, we have you on the camera,"

"Well," Eric said," they don't go down easy, I don't think we could make it to you, how many people are with you?"

"Theres three of us," she said," but err….theres a dead cop up here,"

"Ok," Eric said," try to use his radio to get a message out for help, use his gun if you need it, but don't leave that control room until help arrives,"

"Ok," she replied.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

"That the last of it?" she asked him, stacking the chairs against the door.

"Yeah," Jimmy replied, laying the gun on the table.

"I'm Cassie by the way," she said," just call me Cass,"

Jimmy introduced himself and they sat in silence for a moment, the injured man moaning as he turned over. He hadn't spoken since he had arrived, and Jimmy didn't know how long he would last with a wound like that. Jimmy stood up and took a look at the screens while Cass moved off to do something else.

Jimmy jumped as Cass turned on the TV, the last user had left the volume up loud.

"….are these things?" a women asked a man looking like some kind of professor.

"I'm not sure," the man replied," they seem to need to feed on warm flesh and are clearly insane, attacking everyone not like them with homicidal aggression,"

"I understand the police are having trouble killing these things," the women said," even the National Guard are overwhelmed."

"According to the LAPD, they do not feel any pain and are almost impossible to take down," the man replied," however, a bullet to the head has so far proved to put them down permanently,"

"There are also reports that these people are not alive, can you comment on this?" the TV women asked.

"Technically," the man said," all primary life functions have stopped, so yes they are technically deceased,"

"There have been reports in Europe and Asia of similar outbreaks of violence," the women said," is this in any way related to the incident over here?"

"We have no reason to believe that those reports are linked in any way….,"

"Sounds like bullshit to me," Jimmy said.

"Well it explains some things," Cass said," should we tell the Officer that you need to shoot them in the head to stop them?"

"Go ahead," Jimmy said thinking about when he shot Colin in the head and if it would really work," but I'll believe it when I see it,"

"Hello?" Cass said into the intercom," the TV says you need to shoot them in the head,"

Jimmy watched the screen, but Eric didn't move. Cass tried again, but something wasn't right. The lights flickered and went off and the screens went blank, the TV switching off as well. On the control board a red flashing light with Emergency Power Shut Down next to it was flashing along with a second light reading: Backup Generator Failure, obviously it wasn't working too well with no one running the backup generator. After a few seconds, the lights and alarms went dead.

"This cant be good," Jimmy said," Cass?"

He looked up just in time to see the injured man stand up, his insides hanging down to the ground as he looked hungrily at both of them. Jimmy stood up quickly and looked for the gun; it was laying behind the man on the table……


	5. Ghosts

"_Behind every man now alive stand 30 ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber the living."_

"You ok?" Jimmy asked.

He knew the guy wasn't ok, his face had changed from a look of intense pain to crazed hunger. The man moved at Jimmy, and he grabbed the man's neck, to hold him off. This one was stronger, a lot stronger than Colin had been. The two of them collided with the barricade against the door, which crunched under their weight as they fell. Jimmy held the guy's neck and one hand while the other hand flailed about, trying to untangle itself from the chair leg.

"Cass….," Jimmy breathed," get the gun,"

He tried to look past the guy on him, but Cass was no where in view. He pushed hard on the side of the guy's neck, which hit the wall hard. He took the man's hair in his hand and slammed it into the wall again as hard as he could. His eyes rolled in his head and he shook violently but held on. Jimmy's arms began to strain as blood erupted from the man's mouth, spilling over Jimmy's chest.

He hit the head against the wall a third time and the hands let go of Jimmy, the man fell off and twitched as Jimmy stood up, backing away towards the gun.

The guy wasn't dead, he looked across at Jimmy, but was unable to move for some reason. Jimmy picked up the TV and pulled out the power cable, raising it above his head.

……………………………………………………………………………

"So," Jimmy said, leaning on the table," what now?"

Cass looked over at the dead guy with the TV on his head, she slowly rose to her feet shaking, emerging from her hiding place under the table.

"I thought we had got away from the crazies," she said," but he was one of them, I….,"

"You could have helped," Jimmy said, putting the gun back on his pants, he wasn't letting go of it again.

"I didn't know what to do," she said," he was ok one second and crazy the next, no one knows how it spreads, either of us could be infected,"

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"In the beginning," she said," people were saying it was a virus that makes people go insane, but no one knows how it spreads. Most people have symptoms before they……change."

"Like what?"

"Skin irritation, dry throat, nausea and sometimes vomiting," she said," some people have been known to have sores on their skin too, but most of the time its completely random. A few minutes before they change, they start to get ill, I should have been watching him,"

"Its not your fault," Jimmy said," we just need to be careful from now on, well at least one good thing came of this,"

"And what's that?" Cass said coldly.

"We know hitting them on the head works," Jimmy said, grasping the TV in both hands and lifting it off the dead body and setting it down next to the body.

The head was splattered across the floor, there was little left of it. Jimmy looked away and caught Cass throwing up in the waste basket.

"We should try and get the power back on," Jimmy said," I'll take care of the body,"

Cass sat by the controls, flicking switches and checking the screens, but nothing was working.

Jimmy took the chairs away from the door and opened it, dragging the body slowly by the arms. He looked outside, but there was no one in the corridor, except Colin lying face down in a pool of blood. Laying the bodies together he wiped his forehead, that guy was heavy. Jimmy knelt by Colin and took his radio, he pressed the button on the side and spoke into it.

"Hello?" he said," anyone out there?"

There was static as a reply, he put it into his pocket and checked the pouches on him. The handgun holster had a pocket for ammo, but there was nothing inside. On Colin's belt he found a small box of shells for his rifle, but it wasn't with him.

"Now where the hell is that rifle?" he asked himself.

"The power cant come on from here," Cass called," someone needs to start up the backup generator,"

"And where the hell is that?" Jimmy asked.

"The basement," Cass called, a hint of despair in her voice.

"Great," Jimmy said," and I guess you want me to do it,"

"We can both go," Cass said, appearing in the doorway.

"No," Jimmy said," it's better that I go, I've got the gun, you stay here and keep trying to raise someone on the radio,"

"You even know what you got to do?" Cass asked.

"Press the on button," Jimmy replied sarcastically handing her the radio.

"If you say so," Cass said," I checked out a map on the wall of the control room, the emergency generator is the third door once you reach the basement,"

"Right," Jimmy said, stepping in the elevator and pressing the button.

He waited, but it didn't move.

"Guess I'm taking the stairs," he muttered, heading towards the emergency stairwell, glancing back as Cass closed the control room door.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Jimmy met no one on the stairs, but on the way down he could hear shouting and thudding through the closed stairwell doors. He reached the door labelled basement and slowly pushed it open, the metal door creaked and he pulled out the gun, keeping it aimed to his front as he looked into darkness.

"Shit," he said, peering into the pitch black.

He edged down, using the light from the open door as much as he could. The stairs were short, but the little light he had stopped at the bottom of them, leaving the hallway in complete darkness.

"Hello?" he said, listening for any movement.

In the distance he could hear the sound of water dripping, he walked slowly, dragging his feet across the floor to make sure nothing could possibly get past him. The passage was narrow, he could feel both walls. He almost had a heart attacked when he bumped into the first door handle, but overcame his shock quickly and moved on. The second door was closer this time and he could hear the sound of the water getting closer.

He stopped at the third door and pulled the handle, but it was locked. Feeling around, he felt a padlock on a bolt across the door.

He aimed the gun at the padlock, making sure in the dark that it would blow it off. He would still have one bullet left and they needed the power back on.

He pulled the trigger, looking away from the flash.

From the darkness, towards the passage he hadn't been down yet. He saw a face appear in the brief light. He panicked and kicked opened the door, aiming the gun towards it as he fell into the generator room which was illuminated by a red emergency light. He heard nothing from outside the room, but he was sure someone had been down there. Realising he had fallen down, he kicked the door shut and got up, checking the room over for any crazies.

He examined the controls and scanned them over, until he found a switch with a rusty plaque next to it that read: Backup Power, Emergency Use Only.

He pushed it up and the lights turned from red to white, he flicked the intercom and spoke.

"Cass you there?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"Check the basement monitors now," he said.

"What am I looking for?" she asked.  
"I think I saw someone,"

"Seems all clear from here," she replied," it's just you,"

"I'm on my way back," he said," is the route clear?"

"I cant see anyone," she said," but the front lobby is crawling with those crazies, I better tell the others how to kill these things,"

Jimmy looked out into the hall, which was empty. There were more doors down the way he hadn't been down yet, but the face was gone. Squinting, he could see a door labelled sewage access tunnel. Looking up, he could see the monitor watching him.

"Cass," he said, going back to the intercom," keep me covered on the screen, I'm just gonna do something,"

"Ok," her voice replied," don't do anything stupid,"

He walked to the door and checked it, the handle turned and the door stuck tight, either it was bolted from the other side or something was put against it.

"Damm," he said, kicking it," anyone in there?"

There was no reply, so he turned and walked back towards the stairs.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"Hey," Cass said as she opened the door to the control room," the backup power is only going to last us a couple of days, unless there's an engineer around,"

"How are they doing, the guys trapped downstairs?" Jimmy asked.

"There injured guy looks in a bad way," she said," but they have blocked the door, I don't think those things will get in for a while. I told him how to kill them, but they haven't had a chance to try it yet,"

Jimmy sat down and looked at the screens, the guy that had hit him with the pipe was running down a corridor with three other people, chasing some guy who was limping.

"We cant help anyone," she said," if we leave here…,"

"I know," Jimmy said," they have to come to us, all we can do is wait it out,"


	6. Hunter or Hunted?

"_Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."_

The screens were growing still now, there was little movement in any of the rooms except for the one where Eric was with the other survivors. The injured man was looking worse by the minute. The floor Jimmy and Cass were on was almost clear of other people, there were two wandering around in a room down the hall, but so far they hadn't posed a threat. Jimmy had ejected the magazine and last bullet a hundred times, making sure it was in the chamber each time he loaded it. There wasn't much he could do with one bullet, except maybe shoot himself.

Cass was watching the screens too, her head in her hands on the control panel. She looked tired, although she hadn't really done anything all day except sit there.

"How long do you think we will be here?" she asked.

"Once we find a way of meeting up with the others," Jimmy said," we should be able to work out a plan,"

"We are gonna need some food soon," she said," coffee and cookies wont last us long,"

"You still up there?" Eric's voice said over the speaker.

"Yeah," Jimmy replied," hows he holding up?"

"Not good," Eric said," We've decided it would be better to put him out of his misery, just thought I'd warn you so you don't have to watch on the monitor,"

"Ok," Jimmy said.

Jimmy looked away and waited for a few seconds, from the corner of his eye he saw a flash on the screen. By the time he looked back, Eric and Mike were covering up the guy with a sheet. There was a patch of black where his head was under the cover, they had obviously shot him there in case he got back up.

"We need to get out of this room," Eric said," the barricade is falling apart and we have no supplies, theres no answer on the radios so no chance of help coming yet,"

"There are too many of them outside that door," Jimmy said," you got enough bullets for all of them?"

"I've got twelve rounds left," Eric said," but I lost my MP5 on the front stairs, it still has some ammo left and I have another clip on me, with both guns we might be able to pull out to the control room,"

"That stairwell is thick with those mother fuckers," Jimmy said," theres no way in hell I'd make it through,"

"It's the only way," Eric said.

"Ok," Jimmy said," I'll find a way to get that gun, if you hear shooting, you better come out and help me,"

"Will do," Eric replied.

"You got a plan?" Cass asked.

"Yeah," Jimmy said," sure I do….,"

………………………………………………………………………………………..

"Ok," Jimmy said," you know what to do?"

"Yeah." Cass said

"When I've got the others I'll come back and help you at the control room if they get through," Jimmy said.  
Jimmy smashed the glass on the wall with the gun where the fire axe was and took out the red bladed weapon. He looked back at Cass who was holding a knife above her arm.

"You ready for this?" he asked.

She nodded and drove the knife deep into her flesh, she grunted and blood sprawled over her arm, Jimmy released the lock on the fire door and hid behind it.

Cass turned and sprinted back up the stairs as the crazies poured through the open door, attracted to the blood spilling from her arm wound. He stood behind the door, perfectly still, watching as they ran after her up those stairs. For a moment he though that they wouldn't stop coming, at least fifty had passed through the doors to the front lobby. If one of them turned around……..

He crept from his hiding place slowly, looking around the door he couldn't see any of them in the lobby, although a few were close to the front doors outside. The doors to the other fire escape stairs were open at the other side of the hall, clutching the axe in both hands he moved through the hall watching every doorway at once.

A noise alerted him to a presence behind the desk and he swung the axe hard to his right, towards the face that emerged from behind it. The axe dug deep into it's head and it fell back, a twisted expression on it's face.

He didn't have time to draw the axe free as another one appeared from the doorway he needed to go into. He pulled out the gun and took careful aim, blood sprayed from it's eye and it fell down with a thud. A third one appeared from the same door and he put the empty gun down, tugging at the fire axe embedded in the dead women's skull, but it wouldn't budge.

The crazy guy saw him and ran across the hall, hands outstretched.

"Shit," Jimmy said, turning to face the lone guy without a weapon.

Jimmy clenched his fist and threw all the strength he could into the blow. He struck the man on the nose and he stumbled, Jimmy took the second to duck under his arms and scramble for the other doorway. He dove through it, landing in a puddle of blood and sliding into the wall. Empty shells littered the ground and on the stairs were a few bodies that lay still, each of them riddled with bullet holes. Laying on the stairs was the MP5.

He reached for it as hands grabbed him, he elbowed backwards hard in the face and it rolled away. He wrapped his hands around the cold metal and turned around, leaning on the steps he aimed at it's head at blank range. It fell back, a trail of blood splattering the wall as another one appeared in the doorway. He pulled the trigger hard, letting loose a burst of rounds which downed it. He kicked the door shut and got up, rubbing his shoulder from the ache of firing the gun.

Jimmy climbed the stairs as fast as he could, heading back to the second floor where everyone had got separated.

"Jimmy," Cass's voice said from the wall, and he flicked the intercom.

"How are things looking up there?" he asked.

"I managed to lock the door to the ways up to this floor" she said," but those things are at every way up here, I don't know how you can get through them,"

"We'll take the elevator," Jimmy said," just stay there,"

He reached the door to the room where he had first met the others and found it ajar, bloody hand prints covering it. He aimed the MP5 through the gap and scanned the room, but it was clear. As he approached the other door leaving the room, he started to hear the sounds of thudding getting closer. He poked his head around the corner to see the back of a group of people at a corner.

Placing the gun hard in his shoulder, he aimed at the nearest one and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the wall as the gun rose from the recoil and dust fell from the bullet hole, the thing looked around at him and he fired again. The bullets struck his neck first this time and rose up, blowing a hole in the side of his head. He fell and the others turned and started running towards him. He held the trigger down, aiming at their necks and firing a hail at them, two more fell and he panicked. There were too many for him to face alone.

"Over here you fuckers!" Eric's voice shouted and three gunshots rang out.

Jimmy kept firing, backing off down the hall fast as they tripped over those that fell. Some had turned to attack Eric, but most of them were following Jimmy. He aimed at a women's head, blowing two holes just above her eye. She fell like the others, but now they were on him. In a last ditch attempt to halt them, he fired blindly, holding the trigger down in a fully automatic stream of bullets. The gun fell silent and he took it by the barrel, which was burning hot. He slammed the butt into the face of one as it went for him, it fell back and tripped over the body of another. The last two standing near him jumped at him over the body's and an elbow hit his jaw. The three of them hit the ground with a thud and Jimmy grabbed the neck of one as it found itself on top of him, the second one landed by his leg and grabbed hold of it. He kicked it in the face hard, but it recovered quickly and tore off his shoe, biting at it and trying to finding any flesh inside.

A bullet hole appeared in it's head and Jimmy knew Eric was coming, he pushed with all his strength and held the guy's head as high as he could. Eric shot him in the head and he went limp, falling to one side as Eric, Mike and the women reached Jimmy.

"You ok?" Eric asked.

"I'll live," Jimmy replied, getting up.

"Take this," Eric said, handing the Glock to Jimmy and picking up the MP5," I've only got one more clip for this baby,"

The women suddenly screamed and the three of them turned to see two people grab her, tearing away at her arm. Eric rose the gun, but as he did, five more people emerged from the doorway and more could be heard following them.

"Run!" Eric said, firing into the crowd that was emerging from the door.

"Come on," Jimmy said," to the elevator,"

Mike didn't need telling twice, he was already halfway down the hall towards it. Jimmy followed him leaving the sounds of the dying women and shooting behind them. They reached the elevator as someone appeared from down the hall, Jimmy fired a shot, hitting him in the chest. He stumbled, but started running towards him.

"Eric!" Jimmy called," come on!"

Eric turned and ran backwards, firing at their legs, there were too many to kill and he needed to slow them down. Jimmy turned and shot the man down the hall, hitting him between the eyes while Mike held open the elevator doors.

Eric leapt into the elevator and turned, firing rapid fire at the faces coming towards them. The doors closed and the three of them leant against the walls to breathe.

"Well," Mike said," that was a rush,"


	7. Making Plans

_Thanks for the reviews so far, heres another chapter:_

"_Plans get you into things, but you got to work your way out."_

"How much ammo do we have?" Jimmy asked as Eric loaded the last of the bullets into the MP5.

"I've loaded twenty into the MP5," Eric replied," and seven into the Glock, but that's the last of it,"

"I found these," Jimmy said," for Colin's Rifle, you know where it is?"

"No," Eric replied.

He placed the box on the table and looked over at Cass, who was still watching the screens. They had been looking through every camera and had found no one else who looked sane, the lower floors had been completely overrun by the crazies now. The only way to reach their floor now was by elevator after they had blocked the doors and the only other area clear was the basement.

Eric had taken care of the two crazies down the hall, but they still had the problem of food and water. The restroom on the floor would provide some. They had one packet of cookies and some chocolate they had found in the staff room, but apart from that the only food they could see on the monitor was the front lobby where the vending machines were. Even with the ammo they had, their chances were slim of reaching it.

"I swear this piece of shit radio is busted again," Eric muttered, trying it again," this is Officer Eric Watson of the LAPD, I am in desperate need of assistance, does anyone copy over?"

There was no noise, not even static, he tried Colin's radio but it was the same.

"So what's the plan Officer?" Cass asked.

"We should stay here," he said," I know we need supplies, but if we try and leave, our chances of getting out are impossible at best,"

"Have you heard anything on the radio while you were downstairs?" Jimmy asked.

"There were a few distorted broadcasts," Eric said," nothing that would help us, the last transmission was just before you came and helped us, but I couldn't make it out,"

"The phones are still out," Cass said," is there no way to contact anyone?"

"Not that I can think of," Eric said," but we should make a signal on the roof in case there are choppers still passing over looking for people,"

"What about the army?" Jimmy asked," aren't they doing something?"

"The last military broadcast was last night," Eric said," they were deploying a perimeter around the city, sending in rescue teams, but as far as I know not one of them reached the police station to relieve it,"

"What happened at the police station?" Jimmy asked.

"I was out on a job when we got the call," Eric said," a gang had attacked it and officers were barricaded in the armoury, I was on my way back when those things attacked the truck and we had to bail out. There were ten of us when we got out of that truck, when we realised they weren't going down we tried to get back there on foot, but the bridge was thick with them. By the time we got here it was just me, Colin and Richard, who was killed by them on the stairs and went crazy like the rest of them,"

"Damm," Jimmy said," it's not looking too good is it?"

"Don't worry," Eric said," it's my job to protect civilians and that's what I'm going to do, those fucks are going to have to go through me first,"

Jimmy looked over at Mike, who was standing by the window and looking down into the street.

"How bad are things out there?" Jimmy asked.

"I haven't seen a car in over two hours," Mike said," and those things are massing in the streets now, from here there is at least a thousand."

"Things keep getting better," Jimmy said.

"So," Cass said," what's wrong with the radios?"

"I don't know," Eric said," These are meant for close range only and are supposed to be recharged at the end of every day, they have been on nearly twenty four hours now. Either the batteries are running low or…..,"

"…there's no one out there," Mike said, finishing Eric's sentence and sitting down at the computer.

"We cant be the only ones left," Jimmy said," there are much more secure places in the world than here, you know like military bunkers and stuff,"

"There will be people out there," Eric said," but unless they are within a close proximity there is no way to raise them on these things,"

"Hey," Mike said," look, its working!"

"What is?" Eric asked.

"The internet," Mike said," I've just logged on,"

"Maybe we can contact someone on there," Jimmy suggested.

"I'll try emailing HQ," Eric said," but they may not even be looking or have their computers switched on,"

Eric placed the machine gun against the wall and started work, looking for anyone that would reply.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

"Ant news?" Jimmy asked, looking out the window at the setting sun.

"Nothing," Eric said," the last news bulletin on this website was yesterday, since then no one has posted any updates,"  
"Any ideas?" Jimmy asked.

"We have food for a few days at best," Eric said," there is a supermarket down the road, but there's no way we can get there without getting overrun. Even if we did, there's no way to get back inside,"

"So unless we don't plan on coming back," Jimmy said," we wont make it,"

"Ok here's the deal," Eric explained," if no one has come or we cant raise anyone on the radio by noon tomorrow, then we will make a break for it, we just don't have the food and water to stay here,"

"Where will we go?" Jimmy asked.

"I don't know," Eric said," wait here, I'm going to the bathroom, keep an eye on the monitors,"

Jimmy looked at the screens as Eric got up, Cass was in the corner reading some book and Mike was sitting by the table asleep, an empty cup next to him. All in all, the screens were mostly clear now, the undead had begun massing together in the main lobby although one or two were still wandering the upper floors. The security locks on the doors kept them safe for the moment, but wouldn't hold if those things decided to come in full force. He leant across the check for the Glock, but it was gone, Eric had probably taken it with him as his machine gun was still leaning against the wall where he had been sitting.

He flicked through the different areas of the building, the basement was still clear but there were three of the undead standing outside the doors leading down there. He switched to the camera watching the area he had gone to when he had restored the power but the screen was fuzzy. The monitor must have broken or something, but then something caught his eye on the screen outside the basement door, the things were banging on it as though someone was inside. He tried to look closer, but there was no way to see what was inside that door now that the monitor wasn't working in that area.

A bang echoed through the hallway and Jimmy jumped up, knocking over the machine gun, Cass looked over at him, her eyes wide in shock. Jimmy picked up the MP5 and cocked it as Eric came back into the control room.

"There was one in the bathroom," he breathed," there's no god damm cameras in there so we didn't know,"

"You get it?" Jimmy asked.

"It's toast," Eric said," I'm going to check every room up here to make sure they are clear, stay here with the others,"

Jimmy sat down at the screens, looking at the basement door which was now ajar and the crazies that were outside were no where to be seen. He lay the MP5 within arms reach and looked over to see what the others were up to, Mike was still asleep and Cass had gone back to reading.

"What you got there?" Jimmy asked.

"It's a leaflet for a new restaurant," she said," the opening tonight, but I guess they wont be getting many customers now,"

Jimmy watched on the screens as Eric went from room to room with the Glock, but they didn't hear any more gunshots. By the time he had come back, it was dark outside.

"I found these," he said, placing a bag of sugary sweets on the table," it's not much, but it might keep us going a bit longer,"

"I'm gonna get some sleep too," Jimmy said, looking at Mike.

"Ok," Eric said," I'll take the first watch, I'll wake Mike up at six tomorrow morning,"

Jimmy sat on one of the chairs and used his jacket as a pillow, as he sat in the dark he could hear the buzzing of the screens and every now and then he heard a page turn from Cass. Outside, in the night the sounds of cries for blood rose up to the window and kept him awake for hours. Eventually he fell asleep, but his dreams were plagued with the hellish sounds from outside, he hoped that the next day would bring them some luck.


	8. Into the Darkness

'_He who fights monsters should look into it that he himself does not become a monster. When you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you.'_

He looked out at the rising sun, a bright orange breaking through the clouds above the city. Jimmy stretched and checked his watch, it was nearly 9 am. Mike was watching the screens now, Cass lay on the floor covered in a coat and Eric was also asleep, sitting on the chair clutching his MP5. The handgun was next to Mike, who has a look of intense boredom on his face.

"What food do we have left?" Jimmy asked.

"Huh?" Mike replied.

"Food?" Jimmy said.

"Yeah it's over there," Mike pointed at the table.

Jimmy sat down on one of the chairs and took a cookie from the packet, only to find it was the last one. He sighed and had a swig of water, though it tasted a bit stale it was all they had.

"Has anyone contacted us online?" Jimmy asked.

"I dunno," Mike said," ask Eric, he was up all night,"

Jimmy thought better than waking him after just a few hours sleep and sat by him instead, wondering what he should do for the day. He picked up Eric's radio and got up.

"I'm going for a walk," Jimmy said," I'll be on the roof if you need me,"

Emerging onto the stone roof, the sun blinded him for a moment. He shielded his eyes and waked out onto the dusty stone, which had no barriers at the edge. He found a ventilation duct and sat down, looking out at the city.

There were still fires here and there, great infernos spreading across the city, but no one to put them out. From the rooftop, he could see thousands of the undead roaming the streets. Down the road at the bridge, there were masses of them blocking the road, if they had any hope of getting out they needed a good plan.

As he set the radio down, he realised he hadn't brought the gun with him. They would have to break through the barricades first though if they wanted to get to him. Leaving the radio on the duct he walked to the edge and looked over. Three stories below, a horde of people were outside the front doors. Across the street was a crashed truck, crushing a car against the wall. He could easily see the truck he had ignited before, at least half a mile away.

"Did I really run that far?" he asked himself, squinting to see anything else out there that might bring him some hope.

'……..yes…..," a man's voice behind him said.

He spun around, wondering who had sneaked up on him, but no one was there.

"Hello?" he said, scanning the rooftop.

"…….cannot wait………back here….," the muffled voice from the radio said.

Jimmy literally dived for the radio, grasping it in both hands he pressed the button.

"Hello?" Jimmy said," is someone out there?"

"……..c……….over?" the radio said.

"Hello?" Jimmy said," we are at the sewage disposal plant, do you copy?"

"Landing………too hot……..," the radio replied.

"Hello?" Jimmy said," hello?"

The radio fell silent and Jimmy sat back against the duct, he couldn't tell if anyone was coming for them.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Jimmy burst into the control room and Eric almost rose his gun, but stopped when he saw who it was.

"Are you ok?" Eric asked.

"I just heard someone on the radio," Jimmy said.

"Great," Eric replied," what did they say?"

"I told them where we were," Jimmy said," and all I could make out was landing too hot,"

"Shit," Eric said.

"What's wrong?" Cass asked, sitting up.

"The Landing Zone here is too hot," Eric said," there wont be any help coming,"

"So what the fuck are we gonna do now?" Mike said," those fuckers are gonna get in here are tear us to pieces and your telling me no ones coming to help us? So our only options are to starve to death or get eaten?"

"Calm down," Eric said," It's not over yet,"

"Of course it's over you fucking idiot," Mike said," what the hell planet are you on because this one is ending for sure? Oh but wait, we got a chocolate bar and enough coffee to last until next century but apart from all that we're gonna be fine I guess?!"

"You need to chill," Jimmy said.

"I wasn't talking to you," Mike said smashing his hands against his head," fuck, fuck we are gonna die in here,"

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Cass asked.

"Fuck off," Mike said, Cass closed her mouth looking slightly hurt.

Mike turned away and leant against the desk with the screens, breathing hard.

"Good," Eric said," maybe now you can calm d-,"

"Shut up," Mike said," there's not enough food to last us, maybe if we could just survive a few more days we would be fine,"

"Maybe," Eric said.

"So someone's going to have to die," Mike said.

"What?" Jimmy asked.

"It's logical," Mike said," there's enough food for one person,"

Jimmy looked at Eric, who had taken the MP5 in both hands and had his finger on the safety catch. Jimmy moved towards Cass who was watching Mike with suspicion.

"You know," Mike said," I lost everyone to those bastards, my wife, kids, even that fucking dogs probably dead,"

"I'm sorry," Eric said," but there's nothing we can do for them,"

"I said shut up!" Mike said, spinning around, the handgun aimed at Eric.

Eric was faster and rose the machine gun, aiming right into Mike's eye.

"Don't do this," Eric said," I don't want to have to shoot you,"  
"Fine, I cant take it anymore," Mike said, a tear running down his cheek," I'll save you the job,"

Mike turned to Glock 17 on himself and pulled the trigger.

………………………………………………………………………………………

"This is bullshit," Jimmy said as they covered the body with a sheet.

"Don't you go like him," Eric said.

"That's not what I meant," Jimmy said," he was right, we cant survive this shit locked up in a damm room for the rest of our lives,"

"What are you suggesting?" Eric asked.

"If the rescue teams cant find us," Jimmy said," we find them,"

"The streets are thick with those fuckers," Eric said," we don't stand a chance,"

"I wasn't thinking going out that way," Jimmy said, pointing at the map of the building on the wall," look at this, I saw it in the basement, It's a sewage access tunnel leading right across the city. All we need to do is hope none of those things are down there,"

"Sounds like a solid plan," Eric said," but we will need supplies,"

"We can stop off at the supermarket," Jimmy said," come up in a back alley, break in and then head back into the sewers,"

"Ok," Eric said," If we head north, there's a military base outside of the city, hopefully someone is still alive there,"

"How long do you think it will take us to get there?" Cass asked.

"A day," Eric said," sometime tonight if there's no hold-ups,"

"You really think we will make it?" Cass asked.

"It's either this," Eric said," or this," pointing at Mike's body.

"We have to at least try," Jimmy said," sitting here, we will just die slowly,"

"I'd rather die here than out there," Cass said.

"Come on," Jimmy said," are you with us or not?"

Cass thought for a moment, looking around the room and at Mike.

"I'm with you," she said," let's do this,"

………………………………………………………………………………………

Eric threw the bag over his shoulder, containing two flasks of Coffee readily warmed up for their journey, the MP5 on a sling over his shoulder. Jimmy held the Glock and Cass had an iron pipe, the little food they had was in a bag that Jimmy had. Between them, they didn't have much ammo, so they Eric had told Jimmy only to shoot when he had to.

"You think we should go and find Colin's rifle?" Jimmy asked," we may need to firepower,"

"It could be anywhere in this building," Eric said," if we want to go, we go without it,"

Eric took the lead, followed by Jimmy and lastly Cass. They kicked the barricade aside from the door, opening it onto an empty stairwell. They had chosen to take the stairs down there as the monitor was broken, if they took the elevator they might find the area down there full of hostiles as Eric called them. At least this way they had somewhere to run if they had to.

Eric flicked on the torch on his gun and Jimmy and Cass followed him down the stairs, he kept his eyes on every door they passed until it was out of sight and they slowly made their way down towards the basement.

As they reached the doors, they heard the sounds of banging on a metal door. Eric motioned for Jimmy to stay put while he edged through the open door leading to the passage where the power room was. The thudding stopped and Jimmy heard a scream, two gunshots rang out and there was a thump.

"All clear," Eric said.

Jimmy led Cass through the door and they passed the body of a women with a bullet hole in her head. Further down the hall, three more people were laying down outside the power room door.

"What happened here?" Eric asked, checking the bodies, both of which had large dents in their skulls.

"I don't know," Jimmy said," we should get moving,"

"Yeah," Eric replied.

"You hear that?" Cass asked.

"Hear what? Jimmy asked.

'Someone's coming," Eric said aiming at the door to the stairwell.

Running footsteps echoed in the hall and Eric stuck his head around the corner.

"Shit!" he cried turning and running back towards Jimmy," they must have heard the gunshot,"

Eric sped past towards the door labelled sewage access tunnel and tried to open the door, but it was stuck. He aimed the gun at it and opened fire at the lock, blowing holes in the rusty door. Jimmy rose his gun as two men appeared behind them.

Eric pushed Jimmy through the door, followed by Cass who almost fell. They landed in the water and Eric closed the door behind them.

"It wont hold them Eric said," GO!"


	9. Alone in the Dark

'_The light at the end of the tunnel is just the light of an oncoming train.__'_

Jimmy flicked on the torch and entered the tunnel ahead, Cass close behind him.

"Go!" Eric said, holding back," I'll catch up,"

Jimmy gripped the handgun in both hands and led the way down the dark tunnel, the torchlight showing garbage and other things floating in the murky green water that he didn't want to think about. Every step they took made a huge splash and Jimmy quickly realised they weren't going to get very far in this tunnel at that pace. A gunshot echoed loudly and Jimmy looked back to see muzzle flashes from back the way they had just come.

"Come on," he said, dragging her with him.

The screams of the undead were getting closer and Eric only had so many bullets, Jimmy shone the torch ahead to see a thick metal grating blocking their path. He kicked it, but it was dug into the concrete.

"This way," Cass said.

Jimmy followed her into a small crawlspace and she scrambled along the tunnel, the iron pipe she had discarded at the entrance.

"Wait up," Jimmy said as she turned a corner.

He slipped out of the tunnel into deep water, only just holding the gun above it even though his head fell under for a second. He pushed himself to the surface, spitting out the foul tasting water. His hands grasped a metal railing by some steps and he stopped, looking around. Cass was no where to be seen.

"Hey," he called, listening, but there was nothing.

Even the gunfire had died away, although he could just make out running footsteps from the tunnel he had just crawled through. He dragged himself up onto the stairs, leaning against them he saw that there were three more tunnels spread across the room, although one was bolted and chained heavily and impossible to enter. He clutched the gun, taking a quick look into both tunnels before shining the torch through, which was luckily still working after being submerged in water. The floor was wet and he couldn't see any footprints in the waste, there was no way of telling which way she had gone.

From behind him he heard a splash and he spun around, a body was fighting to reach the surface of the water, throwing dirty water in all directions. Jimmy rose the gun as the person grasped onto the railing, he could tell by the way it moved that it wasn't Eric. He pulled the trigger and the person fell back, clinging to the railing for a second before tumbling into the water with another splash. Another person appeared in the tunnel entrance with someone else following close behind and Jimmy knew that he had to make a break for it. He headed into the left tunnel while the undead tried to cross the deep water, that would at least buy him some time to get away. He pulled out Colin's radio from his pocket and held down the button.

"Eric!" he said as he ran, so far there were no footsteps following him," did you make it? Hello?"

A mangled static sound replied and he heard a scream down the tunnel behind him, but he couldn't tell whether it was from the others, or the undead. He came to crossroad in the tunnel and stopped, shining the light down each tunnel. The one straight ahead and to his right branched off halfway down, the one to his left went into complete darkness after a fifty metres.

"Hello?" he called.

There was the scrape of shoes on the path to his right and he rose the gun and flashlight to see a figure disappearing into another tunnel. The figure had moved too fast for him to get a good look, all he knew was that if it was one of the undead they wouldn't be running away from him. He looked back to see shapes moving towards him in the dark tunnel, he flicked off the light and sped down the right tunnel, towards where he thought the other person had gone to. He stumbled blindly in the dark, tripping over a lump of garbage and landing in the grime. He pushed himself up just in time to look over his shoulder and see three figures appear at the cross roads in the tunnel. They stopped, unable to see him laying down in the darkness, half covered in rubbish and water. He watched them as they looked around wildly and two more joined them, one heading at a sprint towards him. He aimed the handgun at the figure as it closed in, his finger on the trigger.

A gunshot rang out in the distance, an MP5 shot if he wasn't mistaken. It came from far away and he couldn't tell the direction. Another two shots rang out and the zombies, including the one near him stopped and snarled, heading back towards the deep water pit he had crossed.

He breathed a sigh of relief and rose up as they disappeared from view, leaving him all alone again. For a second, he waited, just in case one of them had escaped his view where he was laying. But the tunnels appeared empty. He listened to the footsteps as they got quieter and then decided to move.

The tunnel he had seen someone enter was too dark without a light, he turned it back on and looked inside. It was a narrow path that led to a large room on the other side, not far from where he was. He entered cautiously, checking the ground in case he tripped again, although last time it had probably saved his life. The sludge was thick around his legs and he was having trouble moving by the time he had reached the next tunnel division. Here there were three more tunnels branching off.

"This is useless," he said to himself, settling down on a giant pipe coming out of the wall.

One of the tunnels had a plaque above it that said: _City Sewage Link_ 4G in faded writing, but the others had nothing written on them. Down one of the tunnels he heard a metallic creak and the rattle of chains. He sat for a moment, but there was no other sounds from that way. He shone the light down there which reflected off something shiny, possibly a gate of some kind.

Jimmy crept down the tunnel towards the gate, keeping the light ahead at all times. He realised long before he reached it that it had been forced open with something. The chains lay in a heap next to the gate and the gate was still swaying slightly from being opened.

He sped through now, knowing that someone was alive near him and as he shone the flashlight ahead again he saw a figure turn and face the light. It was a man, but it wasn't Eric, he was dark skinned and wearing blue overalls. In his hands were a fire axe and a small flashlight. The man's face changed from surprise to panic and he bolted away down the tunnel, Jimmy in pursuit.

"Wait!" Jimmy said," I'm not one of them!"

The man ran around the corner and Jimmy followed, as he rounded it he found the man facing him, the light discarded and a wall blocking the man's escape. He held the axe firmly, waiting for Jimmy to make his move.

"My names Jimmy," he said, edging a little closer," I'm not like those crazy bastards, just lower the axe,"

"Stay back freak!" the man said," you cant fool me! Aaahhhhhh!"

The man came running at Jimmy, the axe swinging around his head like a manic he brought it back above it head to land a heavy blow. Jimmy rose the gun and aimed it at his face.

"One more step," Jimmy said as the man halted, he would have never reached Jimmy if he had chosen to fire at that moment," and you're a dead man,"

The man stopped, waiting for Jimmy to shoot, but he lowered the gun.

"How much do you know?" Jimmy asked.

"About what?" the man said.

"About what's going on," Jimmy said.

"Well," the man said," I was working on repairing some stuff in an apartment building a few blocks down, when these fuckers killed my buddy. I escaped into the sewers and have been here ever since, trying to outrun those things."

"I'm not with them," Jimmy said.

"Alright," the man said," I guess if you were, you would have shot me,"

"What's your name?" Jimmy asked.

"Roland," the man replied," you want to tell me what's going on? I took a look at the street a few hours ago through a drain and those things were everywhere,"  
"It's pretty bad out there," Jimmy said," listen, I was with two other people, but we were separated, you seen anyone else?"

"No," the man said, he still hadn't lowered the axe.

"You been here for a few days then?" Jimmy asked," you hungry?"

Jimmy pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket and handed it to the Roland, who eyed Jimmy suspiciously for a second before letting the axe fall into one hand and he ripped off the wrapper and scoffed it down.

There was the sounds of footsteps behind them and Jimmy spun around, light and gun aiming past the gate where someone was coming. The person emerged and looked at both of them before running towards them. Jimmy pulled the trigger and a bullet hole appeared in his skull, he fell with a thud and Jimmy shone the light behind the fallen zombie.

"More are coming," Jimmy said," we need to get out of here right now,"

Jimmy led the way down the tunnel and Roland kept close as they made their way through the darkness.

"Wait," Roland said," I can see light down that way!"

Both of them turned to face a side tunnel, at the end was a bright light seeping in from what looked like a gate. They started running towards it, a way out that led back into the world.

"Come on," Jimmy said," almost there,"

Jimmy reached the gate and slammed against it, but he bounced back and landed in the water. The sounds of footsteps in the water down the tunnel were growing louder and now he could hear their cries as the zombies saw them at the end of the tunnel.

"Fuck it's locked," Roland said," it's a thick fucking lock, I doubt even bullets will break this,"

Roland swung the axe at it hard, sparks flew but the chains remained untouched.

"Here they come," Jimmy said, raising the gun.


	10. Vigilantes

'_The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.'_

Jimmy held the gun ready, there were at least ten of them coming down the tunnel and he knew that he didn't have enough bullets for all of them. He glanced at Roland who had dropped his flashlight and was clutching the axe in both hands, by the looks of things he had been having a lot of practice with it down in the sewers.

"You know how to kill them right?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah," Roland replied," smash in their skulls right?"

"Yeah," Jimmy said.

They were still some distance away when Jimmy took careful aim and fired the first shot, it struck one of them and they fell, causing another two to fall over the first, but that still left six or seven more coming their way. Jimmy fired again as they came into the light, dropping a women covered in grime. She stumbled a few more steps before falling down and taking another zombie with her. Jimmy felt the metal gate at his back as the two men pressed against it, the last round in the gun he was going save for himself.

Suddenly the tunnel flooded with light and Jimmy was blinded for a moment as a circular hole appeared some ten feet above them. In the light a silhouette of a person appeared, waving at them.

"What are you waiting for?" a women's voice said," come on!"

Roland was way ahead of him, he swung the axe hard, severing a zombie by the neck as it closed in and he used the momentum of the swing to bring it around his head and slash another across the chest, which staggered from the blow. Roland leapt onto a ladder that led towards the light above Jimmy grabbed it as he scrambled up too. Something grabbed his shoulder and he fired at the face inches from taking a chunk out of him and it fell back into the darkness. He climbed the slippery ladder as fast as he could, kicking back to make sure nothing had the chance to drag him back into the abyss. As he pulled himself up, a familiar face appeared in front of him.

"I would hug you," Cass said," but your covered in shit,"

"What happened in there?" Jimmy asked looking around at some back alley they were in, but Eric wasn't with them," are you ok?"

"I'm ok," she said," I climbed out and heard shooting from a drain, I came up a few drains down. Luckily none of those things were around,"

"And Eric?" Jimmy asked.

"I haven't seen him," she said.

Jimmy checked the gun, but it was empty. Roland still had his axe and was wiping the blood from the blade. Now that they were in daylight, he could see that Roland had a slightly greying beard that didn't look as though it had been shaved in some time.

"So," Jimmy said," what's the plan?"

"First you guys need to get cleaned up," Cass said," then we should think about some food, I mean real food,"

"That supermarket is near here," Jimmy said," let's head there,"

"What about your friend?" Roland asked," Eric isn't it?"

"Eric?" Jimmy said into his radio," you out there?"

There was no reply and Jimmy looked at the small screen, the battery was dead. He discarded it and put the gun next to it on the ground. He pulled a piece of sharp metal from a garbage container and examined it. It had been broken off halfway down and the point was sharp enough to kill one of those things.

"Ok let's move," Jimmy said.

………………………………………………………………………………………

"My brother owned a place like this," Roland said as they stood at the front entrance to the supermarket.

The front doors were blocked by a shelf, but the windows were mostly broken. Someone had obviously tried to hide inside and the zombies had broken through, there were blood stains covering the floor inside with footprints leading in all directions.

"Keep you eyes open," Jimmy said.

"We should grab as much food as we can carry," Roland said," then find us a car and get the hell out of here,"

Jimmy went first through the broken window, stepping down onto the broken glass he looked around at the silent rows of shelves. At the entrance to one of them was a body, it's head blown clean in two. The other half lay by the next row of shelves in a pile of sludgy blood. Jimmy kept the spear like piece of metal in front of him and looked down the row where the body lay, there were another three bodies sprawled out with similar head wounds, someone had been shooting at them.

There was a rustle of something behind him and Jimmy turned with the spear outstretched. Roland stopped and lowered his bag of food.

"Sorry," Roland said, taking a cookie from the packet, making even more noise.

"You guys stay here," Jimmy said," this area looks clear, I'm going to check the back office,"

Jimmy reached the door and found it was slightly ajar, bloody stains on the door handle. He entered the room, which gave off the stench of death and he cautiously looked around. It didn't take long to see what was causing the smell; on a chair was a man, half of his skull blown away. At his feet lay a shotgun with dry blood over the barrel. Jimmy picked up the shotgun and cocked it, a shell fell to the ground and he did so again. He searched the man who had committed suicide and found a box of shells in his pocket. All in all, he had eleven shotgun shells. He knelt by the man to get a closer look and noticed a blue flak jacket on the floor with Swat written on it.

"One of Eric's guys," Cass said from behind him.

"Yeah," Jimmy said," must have got away,"

"Well at least we have another gun," Cass said.

"Yeah," Jimmy replied, searching the man for his radio, but it was dead like Colin's one. He had no handgun either, and no clips on him.

Roland appeared at the doorway with a bag full of food and Cass showed Jimmy her bag, which contained bottles of water.

"I think we have enough food for a while," she said," but I'm still worried about Eric,"

"He's Swat," Jimmy said," if anyone can take care of themselves, it's him,"

"We should get moving," Cass said.

"I think I saw some cars in the alleyway behind here," Roland said," I think I can hotwire one,"

"You know how to hotwire a car?" Jimmy asked.

"I didn't always do repairs you know," Roland said.

"Ok," Jimmy said," you guys start loading the supplies into the car and I'll check the area, have either of you guys noticed that none of those things are around?"

"It's strange," Cass said," but it's better them being anywhere but near us,"

Jimmy sat by the front window, using a pair of binoculars he had found on the swat guy, there were one or two of the things across the water, but no where nearby. He wondered if something had scared them off, there was nothing nearby to suggest that they were anywhere close by. While he was sitting there, something glinted off the light and he turned to look at a row near to him. On the floor were some bullet shells, but they weren't shotgun or 9mm. He knelt by them, turning them over and thinking. They were from some kind of assault rifle, and he didn't need to look far to see what kind. Two empty magazines lay by a pile of bullet laden bodies at the end of the row. Jimmy looked closer and realised that very few had bullet holes in the head, they were ordinary people who had been murdered, gunned down by someone.

"Hey guys," Jimmy called.

A few seconds later, Cass stuck her head around the office door.

"Something isn't right here," Jimmy said," these people were murdered, they weren't crazy,"

"How can you tell?" Cass asked, keeping her distance, she obviously didn't want to see the gory details of the remains of the people.

"At least ten," Jimmy said," and two have been shot in the head, someone killed them all,"

"The car is no good," Roland shouted from outside," I'm going to have to try another one,"

"Someone might have killed them by mistake," Cass said," they probably thought they were crazy and just panicked,"

"And had time to reload and fire another clip into them?" Jimmy asked," and what's with these boxes, it's like someone has been moving the food from here and-,"

A gunshot rang out from the street and Jimmy turned to look outside, in the distance he could see a truck moving towards them with people hanging out the side. They were some three hundred metres away and hadn't seen Jimmy and Cass yet, more shots rang out and Jimmy used the binoculars to get a better view.

The zombies were attacking the truck, around twenty or so. On top were two men with MP5s shooting at them, on the front of the truck were the words Swat, but those inside were not swat members.

"What is it?" Cass asked.

"We got trouble," Jimmy said," Vigilantes,"

Now Jimmy understood, they had shot the people hiding here and had been moving the food to another, more secure location. They had stolen the swat truck and it's weapons, and were coming back for more food.


	11. One of us

_Sorry if the chapters are a little short, but I haven't had much time to write this week._

'_The death of someone we know always reminds us that we are still alive - perhaps for some purpose which we ought to re-examine.'_

The three of them watched as the truck came closer, the men still firing at the advancing crowds that were now massing together behind them as they drove up the road. Jimmy looked out across the street, there was little out there except wreckage and smouldered cars, he gripped the shotgun and made his decision.

"We have to go," he said," now,"

"I cant get the car started," Roland said," we-,"

"We're going on foot," Jimmy said," right now, go!"

Jimmy climbed through the window and looked around; an alleyway across the street would keep them out of view for now. He moved off, hearing the others close behind as he ran through the street.

Inside the alley he led the way, through the buildings and back towards the river. As they reached the other side, a lone zombie in the street turned to face him. He rose the shotgun at it and took careful aim, it lunged but didn't have the chance to raise it's arms before it's face exploded.

"Which way?" Roland asked, looking both ways down the road.

At one end was a mass pile up of cars and at the other, a thick cloud of smoke and fiery flashes from within it. Jimmy led the way towards the pile up, they would have to climb over if they wanted to get out of here. The gunfire from he vigilantes had upped a pace, it was a continuous stream of bangs now. Jimmy could hear the rumbling of feet on the ground and screams of the undead, surprisingly closer than he thought they were. He looked over his shoulder and was shocked for a moment.

Behind them, thousands of zombies were pouring from the smokescreen, more coming every second. At a sprint that would rival an Olympic runner, the zombies came at them in a horde of blood and rotting flesh.

"GO!" Jimmy shouted, aiming the shotgun at the advancing mob.

Cass screamed in despair as she saw the crowd coming and Roland had to drag her towards the pile up. Jimmy backed off slowly, keeping the gun aimed at them as they closed in a thick semi-circle around him. He felt his throat become dry as he backed into a car, he fired, hitting one of them in the chest and throwing it back into the mass, but they didn't slow and he scrambled onto front of the car. He fired again as two more, slightly ahead of the others, almost reached him.

"Jimmy!" Cass's voice said.

He turned to look at her just in time to see a zombie trying to break free of the car wrecks, he moved his leg away from the reaching hands and jumped onto another car as the zombies climbed up onto the first. He turned, knowing that they had to be slowed or they were all going to die. He shot one in the head as it leapt across the gap between cars and it did a backward flip, bouncing off a hard and landing with a squish on the road. Another fell to the shotgun and fell back onto two more, slowly a small group temporarily. He climbed onto the side of a tanker, up the ladder on the side and onto the giant fuel truck. He sat there, looking back at the zombies who were trying to find a way round to him.

"Help!" Cass cried and he jumped down the other side of the truck.

There were two zombies on them, one wearing a blue uniform and the other a suit. Roland was on the ground, the fire axe against them and trying to hold them back. Cass was hopelessly beating one of them over the head with a brick, but it wasn't letting go.

"Get out of the way!" Jimmy shouted and Cass fell to the ground.

He fired the shotgun and it hit the one in the suit, splattering it's brains across the road. The second one held on and Jimmy cocked the gun. He pulled the trigger and it made a horrible clunk, he tried cocking it but it was jammed. In the side of the shotgun, a shell was hanging out, half crushed by the loading mechanisiam.

Jimmy spun the shotgun around in his hands and smashed the butt into the back of the zombie's head. It let go and rolled off, twitching and trying to get up. He pulled hard on the shell and managed to pull it out, he cocked the gun again and aimed it at the zombie as it got up, looking around for them.

"Hey," Jimmy said.

The zombie turned around and Cass gasped, it was Eric.

"No," Cass breathed," not you too,"

Jimmy stood dazed, thoughts racing through his head. But he knew what he had to do.

"I'm sorry," Jimmy whispered, pulling the trigger.

Jimmy fell to his knees by Eric's side, but he was finally still. The zombies behind them were smashing their hands against the barricade of cars, but eventually they would get through.

"I cant believe this," Jimmy said," he was the only person who stuck his neck out for us,"

"Without him," Cass said," we would never have made it,"

"I hate to break up this," Roland said," but we have to move,"

Jimmy looked back, the zombies were climbing up the side of the truck and were almost over it.

"You guy's keep running," Jimmy said," I'll catch up, I've got a plan,"

He put the shotgun down and started turning the valve on the back of the fuel tanker, something grabbed his leg but he kept turning, kicking at it without looking. Suddenly the valve spewed gasoline and Jimmy pulled himself from the grasp of the zombie crawling under the truck and picked up the shotgun. He took a few steps back and aimed at the valve.

"This better work," he said, he pulled the trigger and the spark ignited.

……………………………………………………………………………………

Above him, Jimmy could see a blue sky, a cloud here and there. It was blurred, but he could make out buildings either side of him and the ground felt rough and hard. His ears were ringing and a sharp pain was getting worse on the side of his leg, at least he had the gun. It was laying across his chest, as though he had tried to use it as a shield.

A hand grabbed him and he tried to move, but the energy had been taken right out of him. The hands shook him and he looked at the dark figure, slowly beginning to hear a mumbling from it, the ringing in his ears was still present.

"Jimmy," Cass said," are you alright?"

"I'm alive," he said.

"Come on," she said," we have got to go,"

He rose his head and looked down at his leg, a thick piece of sharp metal was sticking out of it. There was little blood, but he didn't need to be a doctor to know why.

"Don't touch it," Jimmy said to Roland who was trying to find a way to remove it," if you take it out, I'll bleed to death,"  
"We cant stay here," Cass said," Roland, go and find a car to hotwire,"

Roland moved off down the street, carrying the axe and Jimmy picked up the shotgun and started loading the shells that he had left back into it.

"……you copy?" a voice said, slightly muffled.

Cass looked at Jimmy, who took out the radio.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hello," a voice replied," your transmission is breaking up, do you copy?"

"We copy," Jimmy said.

"We are pulling back," a different voice said.

"Copy that," the first said," we will meet you at RV 3, do you copy?"

"…losing you….," the second voice said.

"……the south bridge is still secure," the first voice said, gunfire in the background contradicting that," we are pulling back in two hours, maybe before, meet us there unit 2, there's no point looking for more survivors, we haven't found anyone except vigilantes since yesterday……..,"

One of the zombies broke free from the cars and Jimmy fired, hitting it in the leg and blowing away everything beneath the kneecap.

"Are we going to go to those people on the radio?" Cass asked.

"The south bridge," Jimmy said," how far is that?"

"We can make it in two hours easy," Cass said," but the streets are wrecked, it could take longer, even if we don't run into those things,"

"What's taking him so long?"

As if that was his cue, an engine revved and a car pulled out of an alley and stopped a few metres away. Jimmy got up, leaning on Cass as she shouldered him to the car, the zombie with no leg desperately trying to reach them, but to no avail. Jimmy threw the shotgun in first and Cass got into the back with Jimmy.

"Where to then?" Roland asked.

"To the south bridge," Jimmy replied.


	12. The way forward

'_Just when you think you've hit the bottom, someone tosses you a shovel'_

The streets were surprisingly empty of undead as they drove through the ruins of civilisation, here and there a few zombies were staggering around but even when they tried to run after the car they were left behind quickly despite their speed. Buildings all around them were charred where fires had burnt out of control a some days before, when everything was normal. Some of the structures still emitted smoke from their windows and there was no sing of the living except for the distant rumble of gunfire that was gradually getting louder. As they drove along a wider road, that had it's share of wrecked cars but none that blocked their path, Jimmy took the binoculars he had found and looked out across the river towards the rumbling and flashes far across the water.

"What can you see out there?" Cass asked.

"Just a lot of smoke and flashes," Jimmy replied," it's too far away to make out anything,"

He lowered the binoculars and checked his wound, they had wrapped it up in his jacket but it needed medical attention and the sewage that had now dried to his clothes wasn't helping in keeping it clean.

"We need to stop," Jimmy said," I need to clean this wound and make sure it doesn't get infected,"

"Your right," Cass said.

"I know this area," Roland said," there's a public pool nearby I used when I was a kid,"

"Sounds good to me," Jimmy said.

There was a thump on the side of the car and a lone zombie bounced off the passenger's front door, falling back onto the ground and rolling away. Jimmy and Cass looked out the back window as it got back up and started chasing them, apparently unharmed.

"Who do you think those guys on the radio were?" Cass asked.

"With all the shooting we can hear," Jimmy said," it's probably the army, hopefully they have some kind of plan because we cant survive out here on our own forever,"

"You really think we are going to be safe with them?" Cass asked.

"They probably know a lot more than we do about what's going on," Jimmy replied," and they have all the firepower they need to hold these things back, that's probably why they are at the bridge. If things go badly, they will blow it up and stop them from getting over it,"

Outside he saw a group of ten zombies near a gas station, which had it's windows blocked by boards and shelves. They moved on, passing it and not wanting to stop, there were likely more zombies hiding inside and they didn't have that many bullets left. They drove for another twenty minutes, seeing a few more zombies who were running towards the now thundering gunfire that was getting closer by the minute. A few minutes later they pulled up outside a public swimming pool and Roland got out, the axe ready, but there was no one around.

"Take this," Jimmy said, handing him the gun, he didn't know how well he could shoot with the pain in his leg intensifying by the minute.

Roland gave Cass the axe, who stood a little odd with it's weight dragging her down. She stuck close to Jimmy who limped towards the front glass double doors where Roland was looking in, trying to see if anyone was around. It looked clear, so Roland pushed on the doors, which shuddered but would not budge. Inside, on the handles was a thick rusty chain and padlock, at a close inspection they could see that the bars were in fact pieces of wood nailed across the entrance.

"Lets look around the back," Jimmy said.

The three of them edged around the side of the building, towards a fenced area that led into a children's playground where scattered belongings were covering the ground. There were bags of abandoned food and blankets where someone had been having a picnic, someone's shopping bags lay by a tree and something was moving in them.

"Over there," Jimmy said, pointing.

Roland motioned for them to stay put and he pushed aside part of the fence that was broken and aimed the shotgun at the bags, which were rustling.

"Hey," Roland called out.

A dog lifted it's head and growled at him, it was a German Sheppard that had been hidden under all the bags, it sniffed the air, not wanting to come closer. Roland kept the gun aimed, it could be infected and he wasn't taking the chance. He took another step closer and it took one back, glancing momentarily behind to make sure it's escape was clear.

"It's just a fucking dog," Jimmy said, which cost him a cold look from Cass.

Roland lowered the gun and it slowly backed away, which turned into a trot as it disappeared into some bushes.

They found a wooden door leading into a back room, the window was broken but that door was also barred by planks of wood, someone had been busy trying to keep the undead out. Roland kicked the door, which opened with a bang and he took a quick look around before helping Jimmy inside. He sat on a box while Roland went ahead with Cass, checking the hallway for anyone. They returned a few seconds later and helped him into the hall which led onto a small swimming pool. On the floor was the body of a man in an orange uniform, next to him were cleaning materials. His head had been smashed with a blunt object as half of the left side of his head was dented. The pool itself was clear and Jimmy sat on the edge while Cass handed him some clothes from a box labelled 'Lost property'. He found a t-shirt and some pants that were slightly loose, using a knife from the restaurant area they cut the clothing from around the wound and cleaned it in the water. They wrapped it up again with bandages this time, which they found in a first aid kit by the desk. Roland sat a table and made himself a hot drink, keeping guard by watching over the entire area from above while they sat at the pool edge. The water was now tinted crimson after he had dipped the wound in the water and wasn't going to help them any longer.

"We should get moving," Roland said," we don't want to be trapped in here, most of the doors are glass,"

"Ok," Cass said, standing up.

There was a thump and she screamed, falling down hard onto the side of the pool, blood spewing from the side of her skull. She held her head a second, before falling limp and falling into the water. Jimmy looked up in time to see a man holding a baseball bat above his head, Jimmy scrambled backwards as it struck the floor tiles where he had been sitting, breaking two of them and sending shards into the air.

"What the fuck?" Jimmy asked," I'm not one if them things,"

The man didn't seem to care, he pulled the baseball bat back for another heavy swing when a gunshot rang out, the man lurched forward as a hole appeared in his chest. He landed on Jimmy who kicked him away. The bat rolled away and Jimmy didn't have time to thank Roland, who was already in the water and pulling Cass back onto the side.

"Is she ok?" Jimmy asked.

"She's not breathing," Roland replied, tilting her head back.

He breathed into her mouth, but she didn't move.

"Come on Cass," Jimmy said," breathe,"

Roland tried again, but with the same result.

"Shit," Jimmy said, leaning against the wall.

Roland checked her pulse and gave Jimmy a worried look, her skin was beginning to turn blue now and Roland tried one more time, this time doing compressions as well.

"Cass," Jimmy said," Come on,"

Roland gave up, crawling back across the floor and picking up the gun.

"What are you doing?" Jimmy asked.

"We have to make sure she doesn't become one of them," Roland said, cocking the shotgun.

"No way," Jimmy said, moving to her and starting compressions of his own," Come on, don't give up yet,"

After the compressions she suddenly sprang up, water pouring from her mouth along with vomit. He leapt back, unsure whether she was one of them or not. She spluttered into the pool and sat up, rubbing her head.

"What…," she said looking around.

"Are you ok?" Jimmy asked.

"I guess so," she said rubbing her arms," why is it so cold in here?"

"Hey, Jim," Roland said," I'm sorry,"

"It's fine," Jimmy said," I would have probably done the same,"

"What?" Cass asked, looking at the guy Roland had shot.

"Nothing," Jimmy said," all that matters is your ok, let's get out of here before anything else happens,"

………………………………………………………………

Roland led the way outside, back towards the car with the shotgun in hand. As the three of them emerged onto the street, things were worse than they thought. Zombies were emerging from alleyways and side roads, drawn towards the rumbling gunfire near the bridge. Undead from all over the city were massing around them.

Roland stood guard by the car, leaning on the front while Cass helped Jimmy into the back.

"Come on," Jimmy said as one zombie looked over at the car.

"Shit," Roland said.

Zombies turned and saw them, one by one until hundreds were coming. Roland jumped into the front and lay the shotgun onto the passenger seat as he began hotwiring the car again.

"Cant you hurry this up a bit?!" Jimmy asked.

The car sprang into life and they sped onto the road, hitting two zombies that were wandering close by. Another one got in the way and bounced off the side, hitting the road hard. They turned a corner towards the bridge, which was at the end of the road some five hundred metres away. Between them and the smoke that was covering the bridge from the gunfire were thousands, tens of thousands of zombies. Muzzle flashes were scattered about the bridge as they drove through the gathering dead in the streets.

"You think we can make it?" Jimmy said.

"Not a chance," Roland said, opening the sunroof.

"What are you doing?" Cass asked.

"Jim," Roland said," take the shotgun, we are going straight through,"

"Oh……fuck," Jimmy said as he climbed halfway out of the hole with the shotgun.


	13. The Other Side

"_You know the end of something great is coming, but you want to hold on, just for one more second...just so it can hurt a little more.__"_

The car lurched as they hit a zombie, it bounce off and Roland put his foot down. Jimmy held the gun tight as they drove over a group of mutilated corpses blackened by some explosion, a few feet away was a crater that was steaming with more bodies inside. They hit the back of the crowd and zombies started falling under the wheels, their speed reached 80mph, but was beginning to slow.

Suddenly, a zombie grabbed the side of the car, it's arm wrenched out of it's socket but it still tried to climb up the side of the car. Jimmy smashed the butt in it's face and one arm let go, dragging the moulding corpse along with them. Another one grabbed hold of the side of the car and Jimmy fell to one side as they turned sharply into a clearing in the crowd of ten thousands undead, he fired by accident as the car turned again. He completely missed, firing into the air.

He looked ahead at the bridge as they ploughed through the crowds, zombies bouncing off in all directions as they drove. The smoke covered most of the water and bridge and the soldiers…..were pulling back. He could see them falling back, driving away in giant trucks at full speed away from the blockage of cars between them and the undead.

The ground rocked and Jimmy nearly lost his grip on the car, an explosion rose up from the blockage, sending twenty zombies flying. There was a thundering bang and a another explosion hit the crowd again, Jimmy scanned the other bank and could see the outline of a tank positioned between two buildings someway down the river. As they drew closer, they realised the gunfire had died down and there was only the occasional burst from a machine gun when undead climbed over the barriers.

They were almost on the blockage of cars, by they had slowed considerably. A zombie leapt forward and Jimmy fired, blowing it's head in two. A second came at him before he could cock the gun and he slammed it handle into it's face, knocking it back. Jimmy looked forward again at the approaching barricade, Roland wasn't slowing down either. He knew what was going to happen, they would hit it too hard and crash.

"Cass!" Jimmy called, climbing out onto the roof," up here now!"

Cass stuck her head out the sunroof just as they hit the cars, Jimmy felt himself leave he ground with the gun and landed on the top of a truck, the wind knocked out of him. He dragged himself up and looked at the car and zombies poured onto it. Cass was on top of the car, being attacked from all sides. He fired, sending one back into the crowd with a hole in it's chest and he leapt back onto the car, kicking one in the face while firing at another. Cass scrambled onto the truck and fell off the other side, but Jimmy remained.

"Go!" Roland said," get the hell out of aaahhh!"

Two zombies broke through the window, dragging him half way out. More zombies grabbed him and tore away at his flesh.

Jimmy stood on top of the car in shock as Roland was torn apart in front of his face, hundreds of undead devouring him alive. A pain shot up his leg and he fell to one knee as two zombies bit into his already serious wound, he blasted one in the face and cracked the gun over the second zombie's head but it grabbed the shotgun. It fell from his grasp and he dove over the barricade, landing heavily on the ground. On the other side, zombies were all around them, eating the fallen and dying.

Cass rose a finger to her lips to motion him to stay quiet and he looked around, laying just a few metres away was an M16. Cass crept towards it and picked it up, dragging the metal across the floor. A zombie's head turned and snarled, followed by another. Cass rose the gun and fired at the nearest one, the gun let off a burst of rounds, two of which hit the zombie in the chest and throwing it to the ground.

"Give it to me," Jimmy called, leaning against the truck, for a second there he thought he was going to faint.

She threw the gun at him and he dug it into his shoulder as five zombies came running.

"Find me another gun," he said, pulling the trigger and hitting one in the head, which blocked another one's path and slowing it. He aimed low, letting off a burst of rounds he hit all three in the kneecaps, dropping them. The one that had been slowed barely had time to start running before he shot it in the head. Those that had fallen from his knee shots staggered to their feet and he fired at one, blowing a clean hole through it's eye. The other two fell quickly but already ten more were on their way. A gunshot rang out and a body landed next to Jimmy from the barricade, which was when he noticed that their car had made a gap that was slowly widening from the weight on the other side. Cass rose the M16 she had found, firing at the barricade while Jimmy fired the opposite way. Three fell before they reached him and he smashed the gun into one's face as a second bit into his arm. He pulled the trigger again, sending one reeling back full of bullet holes and hitting another in the face. The remaining five of so bundled him and he cried out as blood spewed from his neck and arms as they ate him. Faintly, he heard gunshots and the grip on his loosed and the bodies rolled away. Cass stood over him, apparently unhurt.

"Come on," she said," we have to move,"

He looked up as gunfire rang out from a few hundred metres away. Bullets streamed across the bridge, tracers that hit a group of zombies behind them. Cass shoulder Jimmy as they staggered across the bridge towards their last hope, she dropped the gun and Jimmy heard the approaching footsteps of the undead behind him. Looking over his shoulder, there were at least five that were safety covered by Jimmy and Cass, he knew what he had to do.

"What!?" Cass said as he stopped, pushing her away.

"Go," he said, his vision blurring," FUCKING GO!"

Cass gave him a hard look, then started to jog away towards a berretta laying by a police car. She wasn't going anywhere it seemed. Jimmy picked up a thick iron pipe laying in the road. The first zombie came at him and he swung with all his might, smashing it in the face and throwing it back.

"AAAAHHHH," he shouted, rage taking him over as he brought the pipe down upon it's skull and flattening it's face.

The second and third ones came and he swung again, knocking one down while the other ripped off a chunk of his arm. He punched it in the face, again and again. It let go slightly and he brought the pipe in an upward thrust, straight into it's jaw, which broke, sending it staggering back a few paces.

"Mother fuckers," he said," I'm not dead yet,"

A bullet struck the one he had knocked down and it fell back, a hole in it's head.

Jimmy fell to his knees, gunshots ringing in his ears. Something wasn't right, his head felt like it was breaking in two and his hands were going numb. A tingling feeling was rising from his feet, spreading up his back and into his head. He felt like he was on fire now, like someone had poured gasoline over him and set him ablaze. He couldn't think, everything around him was swirling and the flashes from the gun were getting fainter as darkness surrounded him and the unbearable pain stopped.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

'Where am I?' he called out, but he couldn't hear his voice.

The words had no meaning and all around him was darkness, there was no sound either. He tried to move, but he had couldn't and why was he so hungry? He tasted blood, yes he still had a sense so he couldn't be dead. He felt no pain, but there was blood…….blood…..and that smell……..of raw flesh………his ears were ringing now………he thought he heard a voice…….a loud bang right next to him…….but the blood…………it was close….now……so….hungry…….have to….

Jimmy open his eyes to see a shadow over him, another person, but not like him. Tears in her eyes changed to a smile, but he didn't understand.

'Why…..you smell so good….,' he tried to say, but only a growl escaped his mouth.

The women's eyes widened as he found he wasn't in control of his body, he felt the warm flesh in his mouth and he ripped out part of her throat, blood pouring onto his face. She screamed and he continued biting, unable to stop himself and not caring. This was the best meal he had ever had, he couldn't understand why he hadn't had it before. But what came before? He remembered nothing from a few minutes ago and all was fading fast, he rose up as the women fell limp and saw more meals in the distance, running away from him. As he sprinted towards them, he lost all sense of thought except to find more food like that he had just eaten.

_Ok this is the last chapter, please review._


End file.
